Lessons Learned?

So I was watching the debates last night, and then reading the commentaries this morning. One overriding theme was how Sarah Palin had acquitted herself quite well. How had she managed to break even or possibly win the debate you ask? Well folks seemed to think she didn't fall flat on her face, had a well prepared debate strategy, and they were taken by her folksy ways! Well that's just great! Are we a country of morons?! Know who else managed to not fall on their face, read prepared scripts well, and had a nice folksy manner? George W. Bush! How has that worked out?! I am not sure about the rest of America but I do not want the person next door as a president or vp. I don't' want somebody who might be fun to have a beer with. I don't want that weirdo who runs the local church group and is president of the PTA. I want somebody who knows the ins and outs of Washington, someone who is well spoken and seems like a leader. I want somebody who I perceive to be almost as intelligent as I am if not more so for F*ck sake!!! I mean, Palin didn't even answer the questions she was being asked because she was only able to read from her script!!!!!!! She may be a nice person, she may have a very bright political future... but right now she is falling into the GW, Quayle, Stockdale abyss and that ain't good!!! Stop being stupid America!!!!!

R.I.P. Mr. Newman

In my rage this week I forgot to post on the passing of Paul Newman. Great actor, by all accounts a good family man, and a true humanitarian. It is a sad time...

Like Any Great Saga

I have here an ending to the financial market trilogy.

Man, those assholes in Congress FUCKED UP!!!!!! 773 down on the down, markets seized up all over. Why? Because a bunch of dipshits just had a poo tossing match on the floor of the House of Representatives. Awesome

Wanna know What Congress is Really Doing?

Don't kid yourself... they got that $700BN bailout package done last week. It was originally $701BN, the are having a P-Diddy party this weekend w/ the extra billion!

Those Damn Wall Street Fat Cats!!!!

Always f*ing up main street!

BTW... ate at the Bearded Frog the other night. Way too much butter and heavy cream, both A-Bird and I were up all night w/ heart burn.

I did have a good duck confit quesadilla @ the Green Room last night, very spicy! Yeah I drink Campari and sodas, you wanna make something of it?!

Jay About Cooperstown

The special lady A-bird and I went to a wedding of a good friend this weekend in Cooperstown and let me tell you something... there were a ton of cocks and pussies there!!! there were pigs, and cows, and other animals too. It was on a farm! I am ashamed of you for even thinking that way! ASHAMED!!! Anyway, it was a beautiful wedding and alot of fun. We had a bunch of really good friends there and the setting was very nice. The food was good and the booze was plentiful. The ceremony was pretty short and very heartfelt. I am giving it 2 thumbs up. Cooperstown is an interesting town. It is baseball crazy. There is the hall of fame of course, but then on the main strip there is a baseball memorabilia store every other storefront. I am not exaggerating... at all. Seriously. We stayed a a nice historic inn, The Cooper Inn. Rooms were nice and clean, bed was comfy, fine water pressure.

Friday night got a little ugly. We did a number on the scotch at the pre-rehearsal dinner reception, and then had a few beers/glasses of wine at dinner. Tons of speeches, ran a little long. Our friends are in the biz out in L.A., I don't want to belabor the point but needless to say there was a lot of hair product and skinny jeans. My clack sport coat and dress slacks (and then power blue pinstripe suit on Saturday) just didn't quite seem to fit in. I have been know to be a fashion maverick though. So back to Friday night. After dinner we headed downstairs to the bar at the Otesaga hotel. It was split in 2 parts, 1 part was a small bar filled w/ fat dudes attending a sportscaster/insurance conference. When we showed up w/ women it was a scene straight out of a National Geographic special, heads turned and it felt like a pack of hyenas was about to descend on the helpless ladyfolk! Fun aside, Robert Wuhl, aka Arliss, was there as a guest speaker. Man, did he look bored as hell entertaining a bunch of fat drunk sportscaster wanna-bees. Next door was a dance floor w/ a decent band and only 1 couple dancing... and a fat guy passed out in his chair in the corner. Once the wedding party rolled in we got that party started though. And kept it going to town where we rocked out at 2 of the most skeevy dive bars I have ever been in. Hey, I love dive bars, but when we walked in the first place, Puma and I took stock of the available pool cues and tried to decide how many guys we might have to fight to get out of there. One big fat ya-yo bought us a round of drinks figuring the 6-2 women to men ratio of our party might work in his favor. A total makeover, $100K, and roofies might not have made that trade work for him but thanks for the beer, "Karl"!

Saturday was a little rough waking up, but Puma and I woke up early and played golf at the Otesaga course. Really beautiful course. We played w/ 2 lovely LPGA honeys. just kidding, pretty sure they were not pros! We hacked around a bit but had alot of fun. The 18th is a brutal par 5 where you tee off from a platform and have to hit over water but not too far or you put it in other water. Then all you have to do is get the ball another 285 yards to the green. Yeah, I got a birdie! *disclaimer, that is a complete lie. Toughest greens I have ever encountered on that course. I am still dreaming about 3-putts. Then it was on to the wedding. Great time.

As I have run on a bit I will finish w/ the brief restaurant reviews. Alex Ika Restaurant... great food, great beer, mellow atmosphere, so-so service. 1 3/4 thumbs up. Try the local 3 Philosophers beer, delicious. I also really enjoyed the roast duck salad on a croissant, it was fantastic. The other place we grabbed lunch from was Danny's Deli and Cafe. Great sandwiches...brutal wait. I give it 1 thumb up. I really like my Italian sandwich but I don't care how fancy it is, if I have to wait 15 minute for a sandwich I had better get a free beer and a massage while I wait! So there you have it, Cooperstown, give it a look!

Coming soon... a guest blog from the Puma!

Jay About... AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Not much going on here... just watching the entire financial system seize up and puke on itself. Everyone seems to be talking about going back to Wampum as a commodity, and stockpiling the Costco emergency food kit and guns. On our end we have been working long hours, drinking scotch, and then not sleeping for a few hours a night. GOOD TIMES!!! On the bright side, this weekend we went over to NY and attended our friends' wedding at the Sagamore over on Lake George. It is really a beautiful property. The golf course was also fun and quite well maintained. We were having a decent round until it opened up and down poured on 16. At that point the strokes started adding up, the clubs started flying, and so did the expletives! Later in the evening we managed to come up w/ some pretty constructive ideas for life after finance... Wedding band!! That is until some 8yr old punk showed me up on the bongos! I got kicked out of the band I helped start before we played our first gig, or even practiced for that matter! Once I resort to drugs, and then clean up, and then relapse, and then find God... it will be the perfect script for a Behind the Music.

On Saturday it seemed like a good time to check out the new Vietnamese joint, M. Saigon, over on Shelburne Road between the Blimpies, and Waterfront Video(not on the waterfront by the way). Great location? Check!! As we went for the early bird special at 4:48PM we were not all that surprised to be the only ones in the restaurant. A few more people slid in after awhile but I am not sure there is much action at M. Saigon. Plus there were only 2 people working there, a cute waitress and someone in the kitchen. For a brand new place the dining room was not that clean. It did have a funny picture of the Notre Dame cathedral in Saigon, you know, because there are not that many other locals in Vietnam that have more cultural significance. The food was ok. We had some decent spring rolls, the shrimp was a little fishy. I had a pork noodle dish. It was ok at best. My special lady had a spicy tofu noodle which really was spicy and better than my meal. Still nothing special. What was special was the bubble tea. Bubble tea Is a drink that combines ice, a liquid (tea, coffee, juice, etc...), and jumbo tapioca! You then mix it up and drink it through a huge straw. Is it weird to be drinking tea and then have a huge tasteless gummy ball hit the back of your throat? You bet your ass it is! But drinking and then chewing your drink has a strange allure, I can't lie. M. Saigon gets a limp 1 thumb but will go into the Jaybird take out rotation. So there you have it. We are rallying, got to go!!!